Art Festival Celebrates Worcester

WORCESTER, MA September 12, 2016 – After hundreds of planning hours in the last nine months, the volunteers behind Worcester’s largest arts, music and cultural festival stART on the Street are excited to bring the annual festival back to Worcester’s Park Ave Sunday, September 18th from 11am-6pm.

In addition to handmade wares from over 300 artists, Park Avenue will be host to three stages of live music, activities for all ages, street performers, and community groups from all around Worcester.

While stART on the Street usually has a mix of food trucks and tents, stART Director Samantha Sorrentino says that dining options this year are more varied than ever. According to Sorrentino, there are “so many new ethnic foods we decided to add a new ‘world food court’ to compliment the world music stage.” Aside from Mexican, Vietnamese, Cuban, Medeterranian, and Latino options, three of stART’s food vendors revolve around local refugee groups. Black Seed Farmers Market aims to help people of diverse backgrounds contribute to their communities in a supportive, empowering environment, and Café Journey’s proceeds benefit refugees who are settling in Worcester. Sorrentino says the Worcester Refugee Assistance Project (WRAP) will be serving Burmese food as well; according to its website WRAP’s goal is “assisting local refugees from Burma achieve sustainable self-reliance through mentoring, advocacy and proving material support as needed.”

Music has also been a priority for stART planners this year, especially once a couple of up-and-coming bands signed on. Boston avant-garde pop-rock band Bent Knee will play stART during their tour of Europe and North America, and having released their sophomore album earlier this year the group has earned increasing press attention and radio plays. Blues-rock band The Silks will be coming up from Providence to join the Ricciuti Stage lineup in Elm Park. The World Music stage will be at the intersection of Park and Elm Streets, and acts include Epoch Failure, whose urban-pop single “Champion” has been featured by numerous professional sports teams, and electronic duo FREEVØ recently played Ralph’s at stART’s music showcase stART on the Stage in August. Park Grill will host a beer garden with acts such as Worcester’s own folk powerhouse Ariband, Portland-based punk-folk-rock duo Muddy Ruckus, and Max’s Monsters from Worcester, who brought their indie-folk to last month’s stART on the Stage as well. Full lineup can be found at http://www.startonthestreet.org/start-street-fall-edition/performances

The assortment of wares from the 300 artists and crafters on the street and sidewalks varies widely. Photography, paintings, woodwork, and blown glass will be shown alongside pet goods, sculpture, jewelry, soaps and more. In addition to professional vendors, stART will host a Youth Market, featuring young creators who get to experience the business side of creativity.

The fourteenth annual stART on the Street will take place on Sunday, 9/18, with a rain date of 9/25. The festival is always family-friendly and free, though donations to keep stART running are greatly appreciated and can be made to brightly colored piggy banks around the festival. Area street parking will be available, and there is an ATM on-site. To learn more, get involved, become a sponsor or volunteer, please visit us at stARTontheStreet.org.

stART thanks all the people and organizations who have helped us support the local economy by buying handmade – for fourteen straight years!

stART on the Street is made possible through our sponsors, including the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Woo Card, which can be swiped at stART for member points.

About stART on the Street:

stART on the Street is a non-profit organization committed to expanding the scope of creative culture in Worcester and Central Massachusetts by creating events that celebrate and support the visual and performing arts. stART encourages everyone to support the local economy and buy handmade.